Patterson's Pub — Restaurant in California

We passed through Mendocino twice. The first time, I desperately wanted to eat here at this locally recommended pub, but my dream was crushed by the desires of others (as most dreams are). Thankfully, we hit this spot on the second pass-through, and it definitely did hit the spot.

I ordered the Haddock Fish and Chips (with slaw) that I had been salivating and ruminating about ever since we passed through the first time, along with a Great White Ale that was indeed great. I ought to have taken a picture of my dish, but by the time I thought of it my plate looked rather wretched, so I took a picture of Patterson's fantastic lamp instead. Served with plenty of lemon and tartar sauce, alongside a nice selection of other sauces ready to go on the tabletop. Mother and Brother both got the Lobster Melt special, which they both thoroughly enjoyed. I sampled it and loved it but might have thought it a little too rich had I eaten the whole thing. But, boy, that Fish and Chipper was everything I wanted it to be—dream fulfilled. I even had a little left over that I boxed and placed under the car while we went and explored Mendocino so that it wouldn't spoil in the sun and the car interior wouldn't stink. Unfortunately, father didn't know about this secret fish when he prematurely moved the car, and when I returned the fish box was nowhere to be seen. Did someone throw it away? Did the homeless man eat it? Did the ravens airlift it out of there?

Finally, not just missed fish, but perhaps a missed connection. Upon first sitting down, I was drawn to a fine young lady standing before the bar in flowery shorts. I guess I was just being a tiny bit of a perv, but then right as she left I heard pub staff called her Sarah, and I was struck by the notion that she was the same beauteous Sarah I worked with at a grocery store back in Texas many years ago. They said she was a regular there, so maybe if they read this review and see her again someone can ask her if she's ever been to...

My husband and I visit Mendocino every year. We were looking for a good restaurant/bar the first night we arrived and decided on Patterson’s.

We sat at the bar and struck up a conversation with a local gal (on one side of us) and a young gentleman, on the other side. We had a couple of cocktails and ate dinner at the bar as well, all the while talking about life, current events, the vaccine and mask mandates, how life has changed over the past few years. It was a conversation you would have with a group of friends at the dinner table.

Apparently, every word we said was scrutinized by the bartending staff. At one point when a part of our conversation was repeated to us by the female manager of the bar, we commented on how great her hearing was because we weren’t speaking to her we were speaking to each other at a reasonable volume.

Then the younger female bartender came over and told us she had had enough! She couldn’t take it anymore, our conversation was bothering her! Last we checked, she wasn’t involved in our conversation nor were any of her co-workers! It seriously felt like they had microphones under our barstools because we were not being belligerent, loud, or rude, we were simply conversing between the four of us while we finished our dinner and cocktails.

Suddenly the head bartender (the larger woman who is a “B”and the same one who kept interjecting herself into our conversation ) handed us our 128.00 bill and told us to leave!!! SHE KICKED US OUT BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T LIKE OUR CONVERSATION! She said we were being rude (which we WERE NOT)!! How were we being rude because we were talking about things they didn’t like? Is it our fault they were being nosy listening into our conversation that they were never invited to be a part of? It was absolutely the worst, most unbelievable experience. It felt like we were in the twilight zone. We will NEVER, NEVER go back to...

Drinks: 5/5. Fast and exactly what we hoped for.

Food: 4/5. Nothing to write home about and a little pricey but still served quickly. Adequate portions.

Service: 2/5. The gal taking our order at the front window and the speed with which we recieved it were the only saving graces. She was sweet, but the rest of the staff was not so impressive. I understand with covid things are different but either serve every table, or make every table get their own food. It was a little off-putting that my table had to fetch our own food and drinks while others were served as usual.

Also, picking and choosing which people to reprimand about masks was not very cool. Seeing one man get scolded for retrieving his dinner, (still over 6 feet from the waitress) whilst an entire party was hugging another waitress, most of them maskless, irked me.

Also, leaving people's credit cards out where anyone might walk up and take them from the communal payment station and food/drink pickup area feels like a big red flag. One man's card was sitting out for 10 minutes before a staff member picked it up and took it inside with the receipt tray.

Overall I understand that things are not the norm with covid adjustments, but I've eaten in plenty of establishments since this pandemic started where social distancing measures have been made, and never once felt like I could've stayed home and microwaved my dinner with the same level of service I could've gotten here (including bussing our own tables,) and saved $52 for a dinner for two, with no appetizers and only one drink apiece.

I might come back when things are back to...